Perspective for the building and construction industry

What is the perspective for the building and construction industry as seen from this research? It is the fact that the Internet and XML are going to change the industry deeply. For the first time, two essential pieces are in place which are needed to dramatically increase the efficiency of the communication in the industry. First, the internet provides a cheap and easy communication medium, suitable for even the smallest constructor firms. Second, XML provides the means to exchange virtually all data and information in a way that is usable and (financially) affordable by any firm, big or small.

So, this research showed that the Internet and XML are the way ahead for the building and construction industry. But to make it all happen, an framework is needed. XML does provide the means to exchange data and information, but it needs a vocabulary. This vocabulary will be provided by the eConstruct project (in it's vocabulary bcXML). In this research I made a quick prototype, having limited time and using only a limited set of possible techniques. This prototype allready provided prove of the fact that meaningful communication about construction elements indeed is possible in multiple languages.

This shows that eConstruct will be able to present both the Internet and XML in a usable way to the building and construction industry, providing the industry with an undreamed-off level of communication possibilities. For this, eConstruct needs to

• create a vocabulary with enough expressive power to communicate meaningfully

• re-use and connect to existing solutions in order to quickly gain critical mass

• provide programs or web interfaces that allow cheap and easy usage of the system, as well as connections to existing programs